Technical Field
The present invention relates to a technique for providing a notification that a leading vehicle in front of an own vehicle has started moving.
Related Art
A known apparatus, as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5607135, is configured to, if a distance between a vehicle carrying the apparatus (hereinafter referred to as an own vehicle) and a leading vehicle in front of the own vehicle increases to above a predetermined threshold while the own vehicle is stationary, provide a notification that the leading vehicle has started moving.
However, a situation may be envisioned that, when a plurality of vehicles are queuing up prior to a stop point at which every vehicle must stop, the own vehicle queues up behind these queuing vehicles. In such a situation, a leading vehicle in front of the own vehicle may frequently stop and start moving until the own vehicle passes through the stop point. Therefore, the above known apparatus may frequently provide the notification that the leading vehicle has started moving, which may cause a driver of the own vehicle to feel annoyance.
In consideration of the foregoing, exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to providing a technique for properly providing a notification that a leading vehicle has started moving.